Normal Heights apartment fire caused by candle

San Diego fire Capt. Kevin Lyon helps clean up after firefighters extinguished a blaze in an apartment on 38th Street in Normal Heights on Monday, March 5, 2012. No one was hurt in the fire, but a cat and dog died.

K.C. Alfred

San Diego fire Capt. Kevin Lyon helps clean up after firefighters extinguished a blaze in an apartment on 38th Street in Normal Heights on Monday, March 5, 2012. No one was hurt in the fire, but a cat and dog died.

San Diego fire Capt. Kevin Lyon helps clean up after firefighters extinguished a blaze in an apartment on 38th Street in Normal Heights on Monday, March 5, 2012. No one was hurt in the fire, but a cat and dog died. (K.C. Alfred)

Several people called to report the fire at the two-story apartment building on 38th Street near Monroe Avenue around 5:10 p.m., a dispatcher said.

Four fire engines, two fire trucks and a paramedic were dispatched to the scene.

The blaze was caused by a candle burning in the living room, said Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. A dog and a cat died in the fire, he said. Two adults were displaced. They were not injured.

Damage was estimated at $500,000 to the building and $250,000 to the contents.